More Than Just Friends
by KRiSTiNEDAHLiNG
Summary: Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman share a secret, in fact they share many. PUCK/RACHEL.
1. A SHARED SECRET

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: HI ALL! MY NAME IS KRISTINE AND THIS IS MY FIRST EVER GLEE FIC. I'M IN LOVE WITH THE IDEA OF RACHEL AND PUCK. I'LL ADMIT AT FIRST I WAS LIKE OH MY GOSH RACHEL FINN, BUT THAT WAS BRIEF. TO BE HONEST I OFTEN FIND FINN'S CHARACTER TO BE JUST A TADBIT PAINFUL. THIS STORY IS DEFINITELY AU/AR/WHATEVER YOU CALL COMPLETELY MADE UP. RACHEL AND NOAH MAY BE OUT OF CHARACTER. I'LL DO MY BEST BUT MY VERSIONS OF THEM ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE SHOWS. I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS. IT'LL START SLOW. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. THANKS. OH AND EMMA IS PROBABLY OUT OF CHARACTER TOO. HAHA. I MADE HER A LITTLE LESS GERMAPHOBIC MOSTLY BECAUSE I THINK HER PHOBIA MAKES HER A BIT CREEPY. THANKS AGAIN. - KRISTINE.**

**RATING: PG (IT'LL GO UP BECAUSE MY CHARACTERS USUALLY HAVE POTTY MOUTHS)**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NOAH, RACHEL, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS ON GLEE, BUT I DOWN ON HANNAH AND SHE'S PRETTY COOL. **

**CHAPTER ONE: A SHARED SECRET**

Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman shared a secret. A deep, but not so dark one that would have blown the minds of all their peers at McKinley High School. In fact it was so crazy that if even someone had told you their secret, more than likely you would have laughed in their face and told them they were crazy. You see when they weren't in school surrounded by their peers, Noah Puckerman and Rachel Berry were best friends and if they were being honest with themselves probably even more than that.

They'd known each other since birth. Lima, Ohio was a small town with an even smaller Jewish population. Their synagogue was around 200 people. The majority of the members were older. There were only 8 kids their age and all of them attended the small Jewish private school in the next town. Puck had gone there until 8th grade when he moved across town and realized his ticket to getting out of Lima was football. Rachel had gone until 9th when the school was forced to cut it's drama program. They went from graduating with potentially 50 people to around 350.

When Rachel got McKinley she found out that Noah Puckerman did not attend the fine public institution she was now attending, but rather a boy known only as Puck. Puck and Noah were two completely different. An opinion that she would stand by even with a grape slushie dripping down her face and people openly mocking her. Noah didn't throw slushies in her face. Puck did. Noah didn't talk about his guys, or how he was a badass. Puck did. Noah didn't call her a gleek and a freak. Puck did. Noah would have never done that to her. She was sure of it. Still when she got to McKinley she found that unlike at their old school her and Puck were in very different social circles. It had been her idea for them to act like they didn't know each other at school. He, after all, had been the one with a reputation to protect. And this way people weren't always in their business. And the slushies? Well she got him back for those. What people didn't know is that Rachel had actually slushied him first. It was embarrassing, but she always got him back one way or another. Rachel Berry and Puck were enemies, but Rachel Berry and Noah were best friends.

- - -

"I wish you would join glee," Rachel replied before taking a long sip of water. It wasn't the first time she had made her wishes clear. Rachel wasn't known for keeping her opinions to herself. They were sitting in her den, working on their homework and watching True Life. Despite what people at McKinley High thought Rachel Berry did in fact watch MTV.

Noah laughed just like he always did. "You know that's not for me. I like performing, but-"

"But what? You're talented Noah. You're a way better singer than Finn. Hell you're a way better dancer on top of that. If you were my male lead I know we could be almost unbeatable." Rachel thought Finn was a decent singer and probably would have impressed her more if not for Noah. Once you'd done a duet with Noah there was no going back. What he lacked in range he made up for in sheer desire. She had this theory that if he started singing for a group of girls to remove their clothes, no matter what age he could make it happen. "It could be your ticket out of Lima."

"Football is my ticket out."

"Not with Tanaka at the helm. What scout is going to look at a team as bad as ours?"

"Rach-" Noah hated having this fight with her. They'd started to having it the moment Schuester had taken over glee. It only got worse when Finn decided to join the club.

"Finn does football and glee. You could do it too. I know you could." She knew she sounded a bit like a whiny child. She didn't care. She just wanted him to cave.

"I just can't."

"More like you won't. Imagine how happy it'll make Hannah."

Noah groaned. They both knew that was a low blow her bringing Hannah into this. Hannah was his grandmother and also the woman he would do just about anything for. If Hannah asked him to walk across hot coals he'd do it. He never could deny her anything. "Hannah's happy enough with our performances at her home and while yes she would tell me to join glee if she knew it was an option the only way she'd find that out is if you told her and you wouldn't do that. Please just drop it Rachel. I'm not going to join glee. I can't. I won't."

"For me?" She asked her voice barely above a whisper. "We can't win without you. I can't do this without you. I need you. I need Noah to be at McKinley High for me. We're good right now, but with you we could be great."

Noah could see just how desperate she was. Normally she said she wanted him to join glee, but she dropped it pretty quickly. And he knew she was right about everything. There wasn't a scout in this country who would look at him when they were struggling to even score a single touchdown. Finn wasn't a good enough quarterback. Tanaka wasn't a good enough coach. And to be honest he wasn't a good enough wide receiver. On top of that he did owe this to her. He had made a name for himself off of her. He had stepped on her to get to the top of the food chain. If people at their synagogue could see the way he treated her they would be ashamed. Hannah would be ashamed. She'd say he wasn't living up to his grandfather's name. Noah Cohen was a great man. He'd lost his entire family in the Holocaust, but had used his faith to guide him through the hard times. He'd be disappointed in his namesake. He looked at his best friend and knew then and there that he would do anything to help the glee club be better. Not because he cared about glee, but because he cared about her. "Fine."

"What?" Rachel faces contorted in surprise. It sounded a lot like Noah had just said fine.

"I said fine as in fine I'll do it."

Rachel thought her heart was going to explode. "You mean it?"

"Set up the audition with Schuester and you better do it quickly before I change my mind." Noah couldn't believe he was doing this. He was joining the glee club. He was going to have to sing and dance in front of an audience full of people. It was one thing to sing at Hannah's home with Rachel. Most of them were hard of hearing anyway and easily impressed.

"Thank you Noah." She hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet. Schuester has to deem me good enough to join." Noah pointed out.

Rachel scoffed. "Oh he'll take you. If he doesn't I'll quit."

"Are you sure I can do this?" He asked quietly. Normally he wasn't this vulnerable. Neither Noah nor Puck showed emotion very well. In fact the most emotion he showed was the occasional longing stare. He wasn't like Finn who broke down pretty regularly. But there was a part of him who worried that Rachel was biased because she was his best friend. That the people at Hannah's home loved him was because he was her grandson and they just like to be entertained. What if he was mediocre at best?

Rachel gently squeezed his hand. "As sure as I was that Kurt Hummel was gay and you know I've got the highest powered gaydar in the state of Ohio."

- - -

Will Schuester watched quietly as Puck took the stage. He'd been surprised when Rachel had told him that Puck was interested in trying out. He was even more surprised though that Rachel had been the one to know about Puck's interest. Wouldn't it have made more sense if it had been Finn or one of the Cheerio's? "What'll you be playing today Puck?"

"Tiny Dancer," Puck replied before strumming the familiar chords on his guitar. He willed his heart to stop pounding in his chest. He tried to pretend that Mr. Schue was the audience from Hannah's home.

Will was first impressed with how well Puck played guitar, but was almost floored when Puck opened his mouth. He would have never guessed just how good Puck's voice was. Was this really the same guy who spent a better part of his days torturing glee club members? He allowed Puck to finish before letting the young man know his decision though he knew after the first verse of the song what his answer was, "Welcome to glee club Puck. Bring the guitar with you tomorrow."

- - -

Emma Pillsbury thought her jaw was going to hit the floor when she saw Rachel Berry jump into Noah Puckerman's arms. She had been on her way to the teachers lounge when she saw the young girl squeal and jump into her nemesis' arms. She waited for them to disappear from sight before rushing into the auditorium where Will was grading papers. "You'll never guess what I just saw."

"You'll never guess what I just discovered." Will countered. "You go first though."

"I just saw Rachel Berry jump into Noah Puckerman's."

Will's eyebrows shot up in surprise. It did make sense though. I mean Rachel was the one who said Puck was interested in joining glee. "You don't think…"

"That they're secretly dating?" Emma supplied for him, "Maybe. Crazier things have been known to happen."

"Puck just joined glee club. He can sing Emma. And I mean sing. He's Paul McCartney to Finn's Ringo Starr. Rachel is the one who set up his audition."

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Emma loved mysteries. She knew she could crack this one. Plus things at the guidance counselors office had been mostly slow.

"Keep me posted."

"I will." She started to leave but hesitated. "I like your sweater."

Will looked down and smiled. "Thanks Terri bought it for me."

Of course she did, Emma thought miserably. "Well she certainly has good taste. See you later Will. I'll let you know if I find anything out."

- - -

Noah walked into the practice room and wanted nothing more than to go sit beside Rachel. It was terrifying being in a classroom full of people who he had spent a great deal of time torturing. He sat down beside Santana and tried to ignore all of their stares. He did manage to quickly catch Rachel's eye. He frowned when Finn walked in and she turned all of her attention on him.

"So as you all can see we've got a new member today." Will announced to the class. "And because of that I thought we would switch things up a little bit. Today we're going to pair up into duet groups." He allowed that information to sink in before continuing. "Artie and Mercedes, Tina and Matt, Santana and Mike, Kurt and Quinn, Brittany and Finn, and finally Puck and Rachel. You can pick the songs. You'll present them at the next glee meeting."

Finn looked at Rachel and expected for her to be furious, but was surprised to see that she seemed pleased with the pairings. Well he sure as hell wasn't. He was the lead. He was supposed to be the one singing with Rachel. Not Puck. What the hell was Puck even doing here? When did he start singing? He couldn't remember a single occasion when he'd heard Puck he even mumble a song let alone belt one out. He scrambled over to where Mr. Schue was looking at some sheet music. "Mr. Schue I think you've made a mistake."

"What do you mean Finn?"

"You put me with Brittany."

"I know I did."

"But you put Puck with Rachel…" Finn stammered.

"I know that too. We're just trying something new out Finn."

Noah watched Finn whine to Mr. Schue and did his best to suppress the smirk that desperately wanted to play on his lips. Finn Hudson wasn't used to not getting what he wanted. Well other than getting in Quinn Fabray's pants. "I hope you aren't too torn about not getting paired with Finn."

Rachel was surprised by the venom in Noah's voice but chalked it up to him playing the part. Just because he was in glee didn't mean the world needed to know about their little secret. For the time being it would remain theirs and just theirs. She figured if he was going to stay in character then maybe she should too. "I think I can make do."

If you watched closely you would have seen him flinch just a little. He knew Rachel hadn't noticed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well we could do Ain't No Mountain High Enough and then Lilah Tov. You know it's everyone's favorite. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," Noah began to gather his things. He couldn't stand being there. It was one thing to know that she fawned over Finn. It was another thing be forced to see it. "If that's all then we'll meet at your house later to practice."

"Um okay," Rachel didn't understand why he seemed so distant. This guy sitting next to her wasn't Puck but Noah was never like this. "Is everything okay?" she dropped her to voice to barely above a whisper.

"It's fine. Go console Finn about getting paired with Brittany. See you later Berry." He snatched his things up and strolled out of the classroom.

Rachel stood there in shock and watched him go. Finally after a few moments and when she realized that people were probably staring and turned on her heel. "I guess Puck's a bit of a Barbara Streisand," she joked.

- - -

Finn gently grabbed Rachel's arm as she started to leave the practice room. "Can you believe Mr. Schue?"

"What?" She was busy thinking about why Noah had acted the way he had. She was sure of one thing. He wasn't acting. He was mad at her and she wasn't sure why. And it was definitely Noah who was mad at her and not Puck.

"I said can you believe Mr. Schue?" Finn repeated. He looked at her with interest. He would have thought Rachel would be more upset. Her and Puck hated each other after all. Puck did do everything he could to torment the petite girl. And she was crazy about him. Shouldn't she have been just as upset as he was. "Why would he put you with Puck and me with Brittany?"

"Like he said he was just trying to shake things up a bit. I think he wanted to test us out with other partners. And Puck really is quite good."

"How would you know that? I'm his best friend and I've never even heard him sing before."

Rachel froze. She hadn't thought of that. She smiled and cleared her throat. "I heard his audition. I was waiting to talk to Mr. Schue about a costume idea and saw it. He was really quite good." She was happy that Finn was a bit dim or he would have seen through her lie. He would have noticed the way her eye twitched just slightly as she told it.

"Oh," Finn mumbled, "Still I'm the male lead."

Rachel started to say for now, but stopped herself. Normally Finn could have said how now brown cow and she would have swooned but right now all she wanted to do was go home and wait for Noah to come over. She had to know what was wrong with him. "Well I've got to be going Finn. Good luck on your duet."

Finn stood there shocked as Rachel Berry was the one who left him standing there.

- - -


	2. A LITTLE BIT OF MOTOWN

RATING: PG-13 FOR LANGUAGE

AUTHOR'S NOTE: YOU GUYS SEEMED TO LIKE THE LAST CHAPTER PRETTY OKAY EVEN THOUGH THERE WERE SOME ERRORS. TO THOSE OF YOU WHO REVIEWED/ALERTED/FAV'D THIS STORY THANK YOU SO MUCH. I HOPE YOU ARE JUST AS PLEASED WITH THIS CHAPTER AS THE LAST ONE. SOME OF YA'LL REALLY LIKED THE WAY I PORTRAYED FINN AND SOME OF YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE. HAHA. HE'S JUST REALLY DUMB. SO HE'S EASY TO TURN INTO A JACKASS. THANKS FOR TUNING BACK IN.

**- - - **

**CHAPTER TWO: A LITTLE BIT OF MOTOWN**

Rachel glanced at the clock that sat on her bedside table and knew that any moment he was going to ring her doorbell. Noah was predictable that way. She still couldn't figure out why he got so angry earlier today. It normally wasn't like him to react that way. She didn't move when she heard the front door ring. She knew Daddy would send him upstairs like usual. If only they knew about Puck's reputation for loving them and leaving them. She doubted they'd be so trusting. "Hey," she greeted quietly from her spot at her laptop when she heard her bedroom door open and close. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that he was wearing jeans and what appeared to be the sweater she gave him for Christmas last year. "Listen Noah, I don't know what I did to make you so mad earlier today, but-"

"No don't even worry about it Rachel. Let's just forget that it ever happened." He was embarrassed to say the least at the way he reacted earlier. Normally he didn't lose his temper when it came to Finn. "I was an ass."

"But you were obviously upset and I'd like to know why so I don't make that mistake again. And it was you who was mad, not Puck. There had to be a reason."

"It's nothing Rachel. Please lets just drop it." He toyed with the hem of his sweater. "Don't we have a duet to work on."

Rachel started to push the issue further, but stopped when she saw the way he was sitting. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about it and was no longer mad. She figured it was a conversation they could save for another day. "That we do. Are you still okay with doing Ain't No Mountain High Enough and then Lilah Tov?"

"Yeah that sounds good to me. They are our best songs after all."

When Noah and Rachel were thirteen they started to perform at Hannah's retirement home. Two Saturdays a month they packed out the recreation room that doubled as a bingo hall on Wednesdays. Almost all 200 residents showed up to hear the duo play a mix of songs that included everything from the oldies to Jay Z and Beyonce's Crazy in Love. Neither was sure how exactly it started, but to the residents they were practically celebrities. In fact it wasn't uncommon for family members to attend the concerts. Afterwards Rachel and Noah would always hear about how much their performances meant to a certain resident.

"Rachel?" Noah's voice was barely above a whisper. He was sitting on her bed tuning his guitar.

She looked up from what she was doing. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I just," he paused not sure how exactly to say what he was thinking. "I didn't appreciate the way Finn reacted."

Rachel stared at him for a moment. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant. While Finn had seemed a bit juvenile in his insistence that he be paired with Rachel for the duet she hadn't thought that would shock or bother Noah. Finn wasn't known for being able to see past his own needs. "I wanted to be your partner Noah. I would think you knew that already, but on the off chance you didn't I thought I'd tell you. I wanted to be paired with you. There isn't a person I'd rather sing with than you." She paused. "Okay maybe I'd rather sing with Bette Midler."

"Still I know how you feel about Finn." Hell he knew how everyone including Kurt Hummel felt about Finn. You would have thought he was a Greek god or was hung like a horse. Instead he was just an awkwardly tall white guy. Still don't tell anyone at McKinley High that. Those were practically fighting words. "I think Mercedes and Artie are going to do that City High song What Would You Do?" He changed the subject before the entered waters he wasn't willing to attempt to wade in. He'd already admitted more to Rachel tonight than he had in a very long time. To be honest he'd rather talk about his daddy issues right now than his Finn issues. "And I'm honored that you'd rather sing with me than Babs."

"Ooh okay maybe I'd rather sing with Babs too."

"Ouch that hurts Berry." Noah joked. He pretended that she had stabbed him in the heart. "Well just so you know I'd pick Neil Diamond over you in a heartbeat."

"I do know that." Rachel was glad to see that whatever was bugging Noah seemed to no longer be an issue. Another day though she'd ask him what he meant when he said he knew how she felt about Finn. She didn't want to risk sending him into another funk.

**- - - **

Emma Pillsbury sat in her comfortable office and poured over both Rachel Berry's and Noah Puckerman's permanent files. She knew that the answer to their secret was somewhere in these manila folders. Her brow furrowed when she got to their emergency contacts. It seemed they shared the same emergency contact, Hannah Cohen. She thought about calling this Hannah and asking her, but knew that it would be an invasion of privacy. Instead she wrote Hannah Cohen's name on a crisp sheet of printer paper. This is where she would write down all of her evidence.

**- - - **

Will had so far been impressed with almost all of the duets. He'd heard everything from a surprisingly good version of Hungry Like a Wolf from Tina and Matt to a romantic I've Had the Time of My Life from Kurt and Quinn. The only group that hadn't impressed him had been Brittany and Finn. Their version of Take My Breath Away had not only been not that original but in moments had been pitchy. He watched with interest as Rachel and Puck took the stage. "What will you two be performing for us today?"

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough as well as a Jewish lullaby called Lilah Tov," Rachel explained. She looked at Noah and gave him a reassuring smile before tapping her knee three times and then starting as was their tradition.

All of the glee members waited on baited breath for Noah's part of the duet. None of them could fathom that someone who was as big of a douche as he was could also be talented. They were all shocked to say the least when he opened his mouth and sang his section in a way that was so soulful even Marvin would have been impressed. By the time the duo was finished everybody but Finn had the urge to stand up and clap for the two of them. Their chemistry while puzzling was also electric. In fact it made Rachel and Finn seem a bit like kissing cousins.

"Well I don't think any of you will be surprised when I say that while I found the majority of the performances to be impressive Rachel and Puck's were in fact the best. In fact I think we might consider doing a Motown theme for our show." Will wasn't sure how he hadn't thought of it before. Everybody liked Motown. He was pretty sure there were white supremacists in the deep south that even enjoyed Motown. Hell he'd caught Sue Sylvester bobbing her head to a Temptations song the other day.

"As long as this don't end up like Dreamgirls because I sure as hell am not about to be Jennifer Hudson to Rachel Berry's Beyonce." Mercedes replied. While she normally thought Rachel was a good singer she was rarely that impressed with the petite brunette. In fact she thought she was too dramatic for her own good. This time though she had to give it to her. That girl could make music magic with Noah Puckerman. Her and Artie's What Would You Do was no match for their Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Noah stood to the side and watched as everyone seemed to buzz with excitement at the prospect of doing Motown. Him and Rachel had been singing it for as long as he could remember. Hannah loved it. He'd grown up listening to records in her living room and having her tell him stories about how it used to be.

"Your assignment is to come up with five songs that you think would be good for our showcase at regional's. We'll all vote on it at the next meeting." Will hadn't seen the kids this excited since the first time they performed Don't Stop Believin' together. He gathered his things quickly and went to go tell Emma the good news.

Noah walked over to where he had set his stuff down and grabbed his book bag. He wanted to share this special moment with Rachel, but knew that wasn't possible without people getting suspicious. Instead he decided to just leave and relive the moment later. She hadn't been lying when she how thrilling it was. It was far more nerve wracking than playing at the nursing home had ever been. Everyone with the exception of Brittany and Finn had killed their songs. He'd been sure that they were going to go up there and tank. He pulled out his phone and sent Rachel a quick text before strolling out of the room. He was grabbing his math book from his locker when Finn approached. "Sup man?"

"Don't sup me. What the fuck are you doing Puck?" Finn demanded. Not only had his duet with Brittany bombed but then Puck had gone up there and rocked it with Rachel. It wasn't fair. He should have gotten to be her partner. He wouldn't have bombed if he'd been put with Rachel.

"Grabbing my math book. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Don't be a smartass Puck. What the fuck are you doing joining glee? What's your angle?"

Noah stared at his best friend incredulously. Was Finn seriously trying to insinuate that the only reason Noah was doing glee was because he had some secret plan.

"Are you trying to get into Rachel Berry's pants or something?"

"Dude slow your fucking roll. What the fuck is your problem Finn?"

"My problem is you showing up and stealing all of the spotlight. Glee is my thing."

"Newsflash Finn everything is your thing. Quinn is your thing. Glee is your thing. Fuck you seem to even believe Rachel is your thing. Are Tina, Mercedes, and Kurt yours too? What about Mr. Schue and Miss Pillsbury?" Noah was so fucking tired of Finn. At some point being his best friend and playing second fiddle to him got old. What nobody ever said about Finn was that he was whiny. There were babies who were less self absorbed than he was. "And whether you realize it or not I'm better at glee than you are."

"I'm the lead."

"For now."

"More like forever," Finn shot back confidently. "There is no way Rachel will stand for Mr. Schue replacing me with you."

"She didn't look to upset performing with me now did she?" Noah couldn't believe the pair of balls Finn had. "Rachel is here to win and if I'm better than you then she'll want me to be the male lead."

"Fuck you."

"No fuck you," Noah brushed past Finn and made his way to the parking lot. Just before exiting he took the time to shoot him the bird. He was tired of being Finn Hudson's bitch. And he wasn't just going to let him have Rachel anymore. Nope he was going to fight for her.

**- - -**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: AH! THAT WAS THE END OF CHAPTER TWO. I WAS BLOWN AWAY BY THE SHEER NUMBER OF ALERTS THAT I RECEIVED LAST CHAPTER. I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER GOTTEN THAT MANY ALERTS AFTER A SINGLE CHAPTER BEFORE IN MY LIFE. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO TOOK THE TIME REVIEW IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME. THANKS AGAIN FOR READING. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT. - KRISTINE.


	3. YOU TWO SOUND JUST ALIKE

-1**AUTHOR'S NOTE: CHAPTER THREE! AH! HOPE YOU LIKE IT!**

**DISCLAIMER: I TOTALLY DON'T OWN GLEE. **

**RATING: PG**

**- - - **

**CHAPTER THREE: YOU TWO SOUND JUST ALIKE**

Noah smiled when he walked into Hannah's room and found her listening to an old Otis Redding vinyl with her eyes closed. She always said that the best way to listen to music is with your eyes clothes. She claimed that it would take you on a journey if you let it. He quietly sang along and smiled when her eyes flew open in surprise.

"Well this is a surprise," Her accent was still pure Queens despite the fact that she hadn't lived there in decades. She motioned for him to bend down and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Hi Bubie," he sat down in the chair that he knew his grandfather used to sit in when he wrote all of his sermons. He knew that one day this chair would be his. It was worn, but real leather and meant a great deal to his Bubie so in turn it meant a great deal to him. "This is my favorite of all his albums."

She smiled and nodded. "I know it is."

They sat in silence while the record started to wind down. He watched her carefully as she got up and turned the record player off. The last time he came she'd seemed a little off-balance.

"So Noah tell me to what do I owe this lovely surprise. You never come during the week like this." Hannah lived for her grandsons visits. He's the only person who loves records and old music quite like she does. Her daughter, Noah's mother, had never appreciated the classics quite like her son does.

Noah sat there for a minute trying to formulate a proper answer. He wasn't quite sure. After that blow up with Finn he just needed to go somewhere to get his mind off of it. He guessed he wanted to let music take him somewhere far away while he figured out how exactly he was going to convince Rachel to love him. "I missed you." He finally replied though he knew she wouldn't buy it. His Bubie was extremely insightful.

Hannah rolled her eyes. "I don't believe that but we'll pretend I do. How are your studies?"

"Okay I guess. I made an A on my history test." Despite what people think Noah Puckerman is not stupid. In fact he's not even kind of dumb. He was raised in a household where higher thinking wasn't just encouraged, but was rather a way of life. His grandparents made sure that he understood just how big of a world it was and how crazy, but beautiful that big world was.

"Maybe you could be an attorney," Hannah suggested sweetly. It drove her crazy that her grandson had no idea what he wanted to do in the future. When she was a girl it was fine not to know, but nowadays she knew that didn't fly. "That is if you grow your hair out. I can't believe my daughter is allowing you to wear your hair like that."

He allowed her to complain about his Mohawk for a few more minutes before finally butting in. "I joined glee club." He knew that this would keep her from grilling him about law. She was desperate for him to figure everything out. Hell he wished he could figure out everything he wanted. Once upon a time he'd wanted to be Rabbi just like his grandfather.

"Is that the club Rachel's in? The one that sings and dances?"

Noah nodded.

"Oh I'm so happy to hear that. You are such a good singer Noah. When did this happen?"

"Just recently," Noah still hadn't even told his mother about joining the glee club. He knew she'd be excited when he told her, but for some reason he hadn't gotten around to it yet.

"Oh you and Rachel must be their star performers. You have such a good voice Noah." Hannah could still remember the first time she realized that she wasn't the only person who thought Noah could sing. "Where is Rachel?"

"She had to take Brody to the groomers," Brody was Rachel's eight year old Corgi that Noah had helped her Dad's pick out for Christmas.

"Oh I love that Rachel. When you are going to realize that ya'll have far too much chemistry to be just friends?" Hannah was anything, but subtle when it came to her opinions. She was never once to dance around issues. She said how she felt and you dealt with it. When it came to her grandson she wished desperately he'd date a nice Jewish girl like Rachel Berry. She didn't understand how he couldn't see just how perfect they were for each other. Rachel didn't take her grandson's bullshit. She could give just as good as she could take.

Noah sat there for a moment debating on whether or not he'd tell his grandmother about his feelings for Rachel. Finally he decided he wasn't ready for the lecture that he knew would follow if he did. He glanced down at his watch and made a face that suggested he had somewhere he had to be. "Bubie I'm sorry…"

"It's fine Noah I'm just happy you came at all. You let me know when your first performance is. I'll make sure me and all of the biddies are there to support you." She squeezed his hand and gave him a big hug. She doesn't know what she would do if it weren't for these little visits. "You stay safe."

Noah kissed her on the cheek. "I'll try. Love you Bubie." He paused in the doorway before turning around. "And eat more red meat. You're getting too thin. You don't want people to start thinking you're from California."

- - -

Will walked into Emma's small office and smiled when he found her pouring over a folder. Her can't help but notice that her hair looks shinier than usual. "Hey," he greeted quietly as he took the seat across from her.

Emma tried to ignore the way her heart skipped a beat at the mere sound of his voice. She wished that she wasn't in love with a married man. A married man who apparently was about to be a father. "Hey you seem extra cheerful today."

"That's because I am," Will still was riding high from just how impressive Rachel and Puck's performance had been. "Rachel and Puck are going to win us regional's. They're phenomenal."

"What about Finn?"

"Finn is good, but Puck's better. He was pretty upset with me about getting paired with Brittany for the duets. You should have seen them up there." Will just shook his head in puzzlement at the way things were unfolding. "I don't even know how to explain how much chemistry they have. Have you found any clues yet?"

Emma started to say yes that she had in fact cracked the case, but instead said no. She thought she at least owed it Rachel and Puck to allow them to explain their story. She was almost positive there was more to it than their permanent records suggested. "I'll let you know if I do."

"Please do," Will glanced down at his watch and suppressed a groan when he realized that Terri was probably expecting him. "I've got to go, but you should come to the next practice. We're doing a Motown theme for regional's."

"Sounds good," Emma once again ignored the pitter patter of heart. She watched him walk away before she let out a frustrated groan. Why did she have to be in love with a married man? It made her feel like she belonged on an episode of some sleazy talk show. She wrote down a note to call Rachel and Puck down to her office in the morning before turning off her computer and heading home for the evening.

- - -

Rachel found him sitting on her front porch with two slushies. She was surprised to say the least. Anyone could have driven by and seen him sitting here. Then again they may have guessed he was planning on slushieing her at home. She wasn't sure which to believe. Instead she decided to just enjoy the surprise. She watched as Brody ran towards him or rather waddled because he was pampered.

"Did you really have them paint his nails pink?" Noah asked as he scratched Brody's ear. "I thought we agreed no more pink."

"They had a new shade that Reid was dying to try out. How could I say no? And technically it's far more purple than pink."

"I don't understand how you haven't given Brody a complex," Noah replied as he followed her into the house and then out into her backyard.

Rachel laughed and shrugged. "So to what do I owe this surprise?"

Noah laughed and shook his head. "You and Bubie are far too much alike. She said the exact same thing earlier."

"You went and saw Hannah today?" Rachel couldn't help but note that for someone as predictable as Noah he was turning out to surprise her a great deal lately.

"Yep and she sent her love."

Rachel smiled. She had never known her grandparents so in many ways Hannah Cohen was almost like her Bubie too. "Did you tell her about glee?"

"Of course and she promised that her and all of the ladies would come to our first performance."

Rachel smiled. "I love grape." She replied as she took a long pull of her slushie.

"I know."

"Finn seemed pretty upset when he walked into the practice room today." Rachel tried to say this casually but knew that Noah saw through her casualness. Rachel Berry was not casual no matter how hard she tried to be.

Noah shrugged and continued to drink his slushie.

Rachel watched him for a moment before deciding that it was probably a good idea to change the subject. "Everyone is pretty excited about Motown."

"I was thinking we might do Lean on Me." Noah was surprised that Rachel hadn't pushed him further to discuss his feelings. Normally she would have pushed and prodded until they either got into a shouting match or Noah said what was on his mind out of sheer exhaustion. It was rare that she gave up that easily. It's probably because of how easily she dropped it that he said what he did. "Finn's an asshole."

Rachel did her best to keep her eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. Yet again he was surprising her.

"Do you think he should be the male lead?" His voice was quiet as he asked the question. He almost didn't want her to hear it.

"No," Rachel didn't even have to think about it for a minute. "I think Kurt should be the lead."

Noah's head shot up in surprise.

"Kidding," Rachel giggled. "You should be the lead and you will be."

Noah sat there for a moment not saying anything. Finally he gently reached over and grabbed her hand.

Rachel pretended that she wasn't freaking out on the inside from the small gesture. She continued to sip her slushie but if he could have felt or heard her heart it was going absolutely crazy.

- - -

"Mr. Franks please send Noah Puckerman to Ms. Pillsbury's office," Annie, the school secretary instructed over the intercom."

Noah stood up and plastered a smirk on his face as though he'd done something badass to warrant this request. In all actuality he hadn't pulled a prank in weeks and wasn't sure what in the world Miss Pillsbury would want with him.

- - -

"Madam Foster please send Rachel Berry to Ms. Pillsbury's office," Annie once again instructed over the intercom. She wondered what in the world Puck had done to Rachel this time.

Rachel's surprise and confusion was obvious on her face as she made her way to the guidance counselor's small office. She froze when she saw Noah sitting in one of the chairs just outside of Miss Pillsbury's office. "What'd you do to get sent here?" She asked the question with her eyes because she knew that Annie was watching them.

Noah shrugged and waited for the door to open.

"Rachel, Puck, come on in on," Emma instructed as she motioned for the two of them to come in and take a seat. "So you two are probably wondering why I called you down here. The truth is I wanted you guys to explain something to me."

"What exactly would you like explained Miss Pillsbury?" Rachel asked.

"Why you two pretend to hate each other?" Emma wasn't surprised in the least when both of their jaws dropped.

- - -

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE KIND REVIEWS. I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. I WORKED PRETTY HARD ON IT. I TOTALLY LOVE HANNAH. I'LL TRY TO UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT! - KRISTINE. **


	4. WHY?

-1**AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! I HOPE THAT THIS MAKES UP FOR IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TUNING BACK IN AND ALL OF THE KIND FEEDBACK. HOPE YOU LIKE IT. **

**RATING: PG**

**DISLCAIMER: DON'T OWN GLEE, PUCK, RACHEL, OR FINN, BUT IN THIS CHAPTER I OWN SETH AND ABBY AND THEY'RE PRETTY OKAY. **

**CHAPTER FOUR: WHY?**

- - -

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked for clarification as though she had suddenly lost her grasp on the English language. She wasn't going to be tricked into admitting their history. She'd fought too long and hard to keep it private. She'd taken far too many slushies to the face. "I'm not quite sure what you mean or what you are suggesting."

Emma smiled. She'd expected to be met with resistance. Teenagers weren't known for admitting the truth easily. "I saw you two after you auditioned for Mr. Schuester. I saw your embrace. It was far too natural to be the first time it'd ever happened. I got curious. I looked at your permanent records. It seems a Hannah Cohen is the go to person to call in the event that something happens to either one of you. So which one of you would like to explain."

Noah saw Rachel try to deny Miss Pillsbury's claim, but knew from being caught many times that it was pointless. He sighed as he gently placed his hand on Rachel's arm to let her know that he would take the reigns. "Do you know how many Jewish people there are in Lima?"

"I can't say that I do."

"At the most there are 207 Jewish people in Lima. Eight including Rachel and myself are juniors in high school. Do you know how many of them go to McKinley?" This time he didn't bother waiting for her to reply. "Just us. Eight kids and just the two of us go here."

"And the rest?" To be honest Emma had never thought about McKinley's Jewish population. This wasn't one of the things she had been taught to think about when she was an undergraduate or even a graduate for that matter.

"There's a Jewish private school in the next town. Everyone else goes there." Rachel explained.

"We used to go there." Noah added. "I went there from Kindergarten through eighth grade and then my Dad left town and we had to move to the other side of Lima. I met Finn, Matt, and Mike which lead to me realizing that I was pretty good at football and I knew if I was going to go to college I'd need to go to a school with a program that would get looked at. How was I supposed to know that the year before I came Coach Hargrove would leave to coach college ball and McKinley's program would become a joke?"

Rachel knew that he would need a minute to dwell on his unluckiness. There were times when he would admit to regretting the decision to leave their other life. He'd say he'd rather join the Army than play another minute of shitty football for dumbass Coach Tanaka. "I came to McKinley the next year when the school had to cut the drama program. Anyway Noah already had a life here where he was cool. At Prinz I was at least respected for my ambition. At McKinley I was a loser. I decided not to bring him down with me, though believe it or not he wasn't okay with it."

"I'm not ashamed of Rachel. I want you to understand that. She's my oldest and best friend." He paused not sure if there was a way to make Miss Pillsbury understand just how much he loved Rachel, how much he valued her.

"So you two are best friends?" Emma asked though she was already sure of the answer. She wanted to be sure though that she was understanding them correctly. She waited for them both to nod before continuing. "You used to go to a Jewish private school together but for differing reasons both ended up here?" Once again they both nodded. "And you pretend to hate each other to protect Puck's reputation?" Again they nodded. "You joined glee for her didn't you Puck?" The young man nodded not making eye contact with her. "I hear you're really quite talented Puck, but I'm guessing Rachel tells you that all the time." And much to her surprise Noah's cheeks seemed to redden.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Rachel asked.

"No by all means go ahead."

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"I think what Rachel means is why do you want to know? Why do you care?" He didn't understand either why the guidance counselor thought their personal history was any of her business. It wasn't like their secret friendship was a threat to anyone.

Emma sat there for a minute. She really wasn't sure why she wanted to know. She guessed she just didn't understand it. If they cared so much about each other why act as though they thought the other was revolting. She just found it hard to not only believe but also understand. "To be quite honest I just wanted to understand what made you do the things you do. Is all this really worth being popular?"

"Not to be cruel Miss Pillsbury but if you have to ask then you obviously never were popular." Rachel knew that if the roles were reversed Noah would do it for her.

"I think your classmates would be far more understanding than you're giving them credit for."

Noah scoffed. "I think you don't remember high school very well. Now if you don't mind we probably should get back to class."

"By all means," Emma gestured towards the door. "Thank you for being so honest with me. I appreciate it. And I must admit that it's sweet what you are willing to do for each other."

"We'd appreciate discretion concerning our secret." Rachel replied.

"Your secrets safe with me." Emma agreed. She wanted to tell Will, but she knew it wasn't fair. She also had a feeling that it would all come out in good time. Puck joining glee club was probably going to change a lot of things.

- - -

"Did Puck do something to you?" Finn asked Rachel the first chance he got. Word got out during third period that Rachel and Puck were called down to Miss Pillsbury's office at the same time. He was sure that Puck must have done something to Rachel to earn him the trip.

"No what makes you think that?" Rachel asked not even bothering to look up from book bag. Somewhere in the bottom she knew she had a pack of extra lozenges.

"I heard you both got called to Miss Pillsbury's office at the same time."

"And you automatically assumed Puck did something to me to warrant the trip?"

Finn didn't say anything for a moment. Partially because he didn't know what to say and partially because he wasn't sure if she wanted an actual answer. Rachel was known to pose questions that didn't require answers. Finally he realized that if didn't say something she wasn't going to say anything else to him so he decided to answer her question, "Well yeah."

"If he had done something why would that earn us a trip to Miss Pillsbury's office? I'm not entirely sure but I think that's a job for the Principal though I will admit he spends so much time conferring with Coach Sylvester that it's unlikely he'd bother to punish Puck." Rachel pointed out. "Anyway he didn't. You should have more faith in your best friend."

Finn was speechless. No one ever defended Puck to him. Normally people were constantly questioning his friendship to Puck. Why was Rachel of all people standing up for him? Puck's main mission in life often seemed to torture her. "Things haven't gotten so screwed up since Puck joined glee."

"I disagree. Puck has made glee so much better." Rachel let out an ah-ha when she found her lozenges finally. She grabbed her notebook and slammed her locker shut. "Anyway see you later Finn."

Finn stood there and again watched Rachel walk away. She never did say why it was Miss Pillsbury called them down there. Finally when it was obvious that she wasn't coming back he turned and walked away in the other direction.

- - -

Noah walked into the small diner and smiled he saw who was he looking for sitting in their usual booth towards the back. The diner they were sitting in was the hang out for all of the kids at Joachim Prinz, but was relatively unknown to his peers at McKinley. He sat down across from his old friend. "Dude what did you do to your hair?"

"It was my Nana," Seth replied as he ran his fingers through now tidy mop. He looked like he belonged in a catalog. "She kept busting my Mom's balls until she finally told me to get a haircut or lose my Jeep. Anyway Abby loves it. She always did bitch about me having prettier hair than her."

Noah and Seth had been friends since they were at least four years old. He knew that he wasn't exaggerating when he complained about Abby's bitching. He knew her just as well. When both he and Rachel had attended JP Abby and Seth had been their closest friends. They were Jewish in the same way. The believed and valued their religion, but were normal enough that many of their peers didn't realize they were Jewish. Well at least at the time he thought they didn't. Now he had a new appreciation for his friends. He could see what other kids saw when they saw them. They were all a little too clean cut. They all cared a little too much about what their parents thought. The list could go on and on. Finn had been the one to warn him that he didn't dress or act the way other kids did. It wasn't normal to work Hebrew and Yiddish into everyday conversations.

"So tell me to what do I owe the honor of this little meeting. We haven't come here like this in ages." Seth had been shocked when he got a text from Noah asking to meet here tonight. Their friendship wasn't as strong as it had been when they all attended the same school. Often they found they had less in common than they used to.

Noah sighed and took a bite of the pastrami sandwich that Seth had ordered for him before he arrived. "I think I'm in love with Rachel." He mumbled with his mouth full.

"I'm going to need you to say that again."

"I think I'm in love with Rachel," Noah mumbled.

Seth smirked, "Duh."

"What do you mean duh?"

"I mean duh you're in love with Rachel. You have been since we were like nine. Why else would you join McKinley's glee club?"

Noah frowned. "You heard about that?"

"Rachel told Abby the second you agreed and that's when I knew. I was like wow Noah's finally going to admit that he is in love with Rachel." Seth shrugged. "I went through the exact same thing with Abby. I didn't want to love her, but that didn't make me not love her. Does that make sense?"

"Sadly it does," Noah felt the same way. "The difference between our situations is that Abby loved you back and Rachel is in love with someone else."

"How do you know?"

"I think I know Rachel well enough to know when she's in love with a guy. Remember how hard she fell for Nick Lachey?"

Seth laughed and cringed. "God do you remember how we frosted our tips because of all those boy bad guys? Abby was so in love with Justin Timberlake. Who am I kidding she still is?"

Noah did remember the frosted tips. There was a picture that his mother used to have hung up on the wall for others to see that showed people how foolish he'd once been. "Abby and Rachel had been the ones to convince us and that summer at camp all of the girls thought we were so hot."

"And they were so jealous."

"That was a long time ago."

Seth nodded. "I hate that you transferred. JP is so lame without you guys."

"I think we both hate that we transferred too. Kids at McKinley are so much more judgmental than kids at JP were." Noah admitted softly. He groaned when his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open. _Thought we could practice before True Life came on. You in? _He smiled and shot her back a quick text. "Listen man-"

"Have to go," Seth finished for him. "Tell Rachel I said hey."

"Will do," Noah replied as he stood to leave. "We'll have to do this again."

"Yeah maybe this Friday or something. And Noah just go for it with her. Rachel loves you too. Ask Abby."

Noah nodded and pounded friends with Seth before dropping a couple fives on the table and leaving.

- - -

"You saw Seth?" Rachel asked as they sat on her bed going over all of the sheet music she had found for them after school that day.

"Yeah we went to the diner by JP. He cut his hair."

"I know Abby told me. How short is it?"

" short," Noah would have died if anyone on the football had heard him say something like that. He knew he sounded just like Hummel. "It suits him though. Do you remember when you and Abby talked Seth and I into frosting our tips?"

"Every girl at camp that summer wanted to hook up with you two. We were so mad at ourselves for making you guys look like studs."

"You were?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Rachel blushed just a little. "Well because we didn't like all of the attention other girls were giving you."

"How do you think we felt when you two grew boobs?" Noah pointed out.

"Is that why you two gave us the cold shoulder that summer?" Rachel could remember not understanding why they wouldn't talk to them. She thought it was because Seth and Noah thought her and Abby were losers. It never occurred to her that they were jealous.

"That's all any of the guys would talk about." Noah had actually punched some guy from Akron named Peter in the nose for saying that he was sure he could pop Rachel's cherry. He looked at Rachel, really looked at her. She was dressed down compared to her usual look. She had on a pair of leggings and one of her Dad's Ohio State sweatshirts. Her hair was thrown on top of her head in a messy bun. She was wearing her reading glasses as opposed to her usual contacts. And still he thought she was hot. It was then that he didn't think he was falling for her, but rather knew. He reached out to push a stray hair behind her ear, but was interrupted when her phone started to ring.

She grabbed her phone off of her nightstand even though she didn't want to move from her spot. She mouthed sorry as she flipped it open. "Finn?"

Noah watched as she took in whatever Finn was saying. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Finally she got off the phone. "What'd he want?"

"He asked me out."

"What?" He felt his heart start to slowly break.

"Finn asked me out."

"What about Quinn?"

"Apparently they broke up earlier today. Something about her not being enough for him anymore."

"And what did you say."

Rachel frowned. "About their breakup?"

"No when he asked you out?" Noah prayed that she said no even though he couldn't once recall her saying no during the entire conversation.

"I said okay."

"But?"

Rachel's heart started to pound. She thought maybe he'd finally admit it. Admit that he felt the same way about her as she did him. "But what Noah?"

He stared at her earnestly. He wanted so badly to tell her to call Finn back and turn him down. He wanted to say that he loved her and that she was the only for him.

"But what Noah?" She asked again. She was a louder this time.

He looked down at his hands and then back up at her. "Nothing."

"Are you sure?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah I'm sure." He wasn't sure. He wasn't even kind of sure. All he wanted to say was that Finn's a complete and utter asshole and he'd never understand her like he did. Instead he said, "What's True Life about tonight?"

- - -

Abby groaned as she hung up the phone. Noah Puckerman was a grade A moron. How in the world could he let her go out with someone as dense as Finn Hudson. She'd met the guy one time when he came into the boutique she worked at to buy his girlfriend a birthday present. While he was mostly nice, helping him had been physically painful. She pressed 3 on her speed dial and waited not so patiently for him to pick up. "Seth I thought you said that Noah was in love with Rachel," she didn't see the point in saying hello first.

"He did," Seth frowned. "Why?"

"Because another guy at their school asked Rachel out tonight. Instead of asking her to pick him, he did nothing. Why are guys so dense?"

Seth fought the urge to disagree with her broad statement. Instead he sat there. Hell hath no fury like a Jewish woman. "Maybe he's just figuring out his plan of action."

"He better be." Abby muttered. "Things wouldn't be this complicated if they stayed at JP with us."

"No shit."

"Why didn't you tell me that you gave us the silent treatment because all of the guys at camp kept talking about our boobs?"

Seth groaned. "Noah told Rachel that."

"Duh." Abby laughed. "I guess it's just like why were we so pissed when you guys got frosted tips and all of the girls at camp thought you guys were so hot."

"I love Abs."

"Love you too Seth…"

"I'll talk some sense into Noah." Seth assured her.

"I know you will."

- - -

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: AH! NEW CHARACTERS! HAHA. I WAS LIKE THEY HAD TO HAVE HAD FRIENDS AT PRIVATE SCHOOL WHICH IF YOU DIDN'T REALIZE IS CALLED JOACHIM PRINZ OR JUST JP. ANYWAY I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. I'M SORRY IT TOOK A WHILE TO UPDATE. I'M NOT ALWAYS THE BEST AT THAT. STILL I HOPE YOU TAKE THE TIME TO REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME. HOPE YOU ALL HAD A HAPPY THANKSGIVING! IT MIGHT TAKE ME A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO PUT UP CHAPTER FIVE. THANKS SO MUCH. - KRISTINE. **


	5. SO COMPLICATED

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TUNING BACK IN! SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UDPATE. IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIGURE OUT WHERE I WANTED THIS CHAPTER TO GO. I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS. - KRISTINE. **

**RATING: PG**

**DISLCAIMER: DON'T OWN RACHEL, FINN, OR PUCK, BUT I DO OWN HANNAH AND SETH AND I LIKE THEM A LOT. **

**CHAPTER FIVE: SO COMPLICATED**

- - -

Rachel tried her best to listen to Finn. She knew that communication was an important part of a functioning relationship. And she also knew that the key to communication was not just talking, but also listening. But she couldn't help it. One she wasn't really sure what he was talking about. She also wasn't sure if she didn't understand what he was talking about because she wasn't your average teenager or because Finn was dumb as a rock. She had a feeling it was a little bit of both. On top of that she couldn't help but look at the door every ten seconds to see if Noah was about to walk into the room. Last night despite his declaration that everything was, "fine", he rushed out of her house the moment True Life was over. And then today she'd made a point to search the halls for him as she made her way to each of her classes, but hadn't seen him or even caught just a glimpse of him. When Mr. Schue walked in and it was obvious that Noah wasn't going to walk through the door any minute she let out a small inaudible sigh. "Have you seen Puck today?"

"No it looks like he decided to skip." Finn replied with a shrug.

"Oh."

"Puck isn't reliable. You know that."

"I wish you wouldn't talk about your best friend that way. It would be one thing for you talk about someone you hated with such disdain, but Puck's your best friend. You really should learn to say more positive things about him."

"I don't understand you."

"What do you mean? You don't understand my advice? I think you shouldn't talk about Puck so harshly." Rachel clarified.

Finn rolled his eyes. For a smart girl sometimes Rachel Berry was stupid. "I don't understand why you defend him."

"I just think that the way you talk about him is unfair and I think he's misunderstood."

He knew there was no point fighting with her so instead he decided to change the subject. "I was thinking that maybe you and I could work on that song Ain't No Mountain High Enough at your house today after I get done with football practice."

"I don't know," she said because she really wanted to get up with Noah. Rachel resisted the urge to frown. Why had he skipped? He seemed excited to present his song ideas to the rest of glee club today. "And Ain't No Mountain High Enough is a duet I did with Puck. I think he should be the male lead on that one."

"But I'm your boyfriend."

"We're going on a date," Rachel corrected, "Not going steady Finn. You just got out of a long relationship with Quinn and I'm not entirely sure I want to be tied down right now." The part she didn't say was that she wasn't sure if she wanted to be tied down to him. There was another boy she was completely willing to be tied down to. She couldn't help but wonder when Noah suddenly became so hard to understand.

- - -

"Dude," Seth drawled the moment Noah answered his front door. He took in Noah's pathetic sight. He was wearing sweat pants and a navy sweatshirt with what looked quite possibly like a Cheeto stain going down the front. He didn't bother to wait for Noah to invite him. Instead he just brushed past him and went straight to the living room.

"Well this is a surprise," Noah didn't even know how Seth knew where he lived. Since he moved to the other side of town he hadn't once had one of his old friends over to his new house. One it was about half the size of his old house and two Matt lived just down the road and would be sure to ask about the expensive cars his friends drove sitting in front of his house.

"It wouldn't be if you checked your phone. Did you lose it or something?"

"No I just didn't feel like talking to anybody so it's turned off and sitting upstairs in my room."

"I can't believe you're letting her go out with some other guy," Seth ranted after grabbing Cheeto. "One second you say you love her and the next you let her go out with some other guy who with a name like Finn is obviously not a Jew."

"Is there even a point in asking how you know about Rachel and Finn?" He bristled a bit at the phrase Rachel and Finn. It tasted a bit like vinegar as it rolled off his tongue.

"Come on you know how it works Rachel told Abby who immediately called me to tell me the news. She was like guess what Rachel has a date and I'm thinking with you, but I quickly am informed that it is with some guy named Finn Hudson." Seth decided to lie a bit because the last thing he needed was for Noah to find out that part of the reason he was so irritated is because he'd blabbed to Abigail about their conversation yesterday.

"He's the guy I told you about. The one I thought she preferred."

"Well from what Abby said Rachel didn't seem enthusiastic at all. In fact Abby noted that seemed a bit bummed which she thought was odd."

Noah's eyebrow quirked in surprise. "Abby said that."

Seth nodded as he grabbed another Cheeto.

He thought about this for a second. If Rachel was so in love with Finn then why did she seem bummed? Was it because she didn't really like Finn after all. Was there a chance she was the one person in the world who thought that maybe he was more than just Finn's asshole best friend.

"Penny for your thoughts," Seth asked in an imitation he knew Noah would recognize as being his Nana. His Nana was a smoker from New Jersey who only moved to Lima, Ohio when she fell in love with a Jewish sailor from here.

"Sometimes you're creepy," Noah pointed out, "And I'm just wondering why she didn't sound excited."

"Maybe because she's in love with you."

He just sat there for a second contemplating his friends claims.

"Noah we both know that Rachel Berry is many things and one of those things is a gusher. When she's excited whole world knows. If she were happy about this upcoming date she'd have let Abby know."

"Your right."

"Duh."

"Stop being obnoxious."

"I'll stop being obnoxious when you stop being a pussy." Seth chewed silently on a Cheeto for a moment before saying, "And you do realize you sounded just like Rachel just then right. Next you'll be breaking out in song about the hills or some bullshit."

- - -

Hannah smiled when she looked up from her collection of records and found Rachel standing in her doorway. She marveled at just how beautiful Rachel was. She was always amazed even though she knew just how beautiful Rachel's biological mother had been. "Rachel Berry you little minx come in have you come to entertain an old woman for a little while?"

"Who are you calling a minx? I think that adjective describes you a bit better than me." Rachel joked as she enveloped Hannah in a hug. If Rachel was petite then Hannah was itty-bitty. "I love your new rouge."

"You don't think it's too much?"

Rachel waved her right hand dismissively, "It's perfect."

"Good because the last thing I need is my daughter accusing me of trying to pick up old men in this joint." Hannah hated that her daughter thought she had the right to lecture her as if just because Hannah's hair had grayed she wasn't smart enough to make her own decisions. "As if any of these men in here are as good as my original Noah was."

Rachel smiled. She knew all about how Noah's grandparents met and fell in love. It was her favorite fairytale. Her grandfather had been a young Jewish medic in the Navy during World War II. They'd met at a diner in Queens where Hannah was a waitress. He'd stayed in his seat in a booth towards the back until it started to finally slow down. He just kept drinking coffee and eating apple pie. Apparently she finally found his behavior strange and asked him if there was a reason he had ordered six pieces of pie. He'd said "it helped him think about how he was going to work up the nerve to ask her out". They spent the entire week he was in New York together. She showed him all of the sights and when it was time for him to leave he promised he'd be back for her the moment his tour was up. Other than letters they wrote to each other during his employment they really had only spent that week together, but she said it had been more than enough to let her know that he was the one for her. They got married within a week of him showing up on her doorstep after his tour.

"So Noah said he joined a club with you, the singing and dancing club."

"Glee," Rachel supplied for her.

"Yes he said he joined this glee club. Thank you for getting him to put his voice to more use. The boy can sing like a Motown original, but if it weren't for you he would just waste his talent." Hannah could tell that Rachel hadn't just stopped by for a friendly chat. "What's wrong motek?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"Don't you lie to me Rachel Berry. I've known you since before you were born. I taught you to read and write. I know when you are upset."

"Why are boys so complicated?" The words spilled out of her mouth before she could even stop them.

"Are you referring to that grandson of mine?"

Rachel looked down at her hands.

"I'll take that as a yes. What did he do?"

"It's more like what he didn't do Hannah. Or I don't know. I thought he liked me and he acted like he liked me but he won't just say he likes me. Does that even make sense?"

"More than you know," Hannah could remember having a conversation like this with her daughter once upon a time. "Boys are stubborn and they're chickens."

Rachel looked up at her.

"He might just be scared to put himself out there Rachel. If I know my Noah he loves you and he'll tell you soon enough. He won't dare lose you. You mean the world to him."

Rachel nodded. She hoped that Hannah was right. She also hoped that it didn't Noah forever to admit his true feelings to her. Why would he bring her a grape slushie and hold her hand if he didn't like her?

"You're growing more beautiful by the day Rachel." She assured the young girl as she reassuringly patted her hand. "You look every bit the starlet you'll be one day. Believe me my grandson would stupid to let a beautiful Jewish girl let you go."

- - -

Noah smiled when heard someone knock on the front door. He was almost positive it was her. Surely she was dropping by to ask why he'd skipped school today. And then he'd tell her. He'd tell that he skipped because he couldn't stand the sight of seeing her and Finn holding hands. He'd tell her that he couldn't stand the thought of the two of them being an item. He ran down the stairs two at a time. He was glad out of the sweats he'd been wearing when Seth showed up. He threw open the front door and found…

- - -

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: OKAY SO HOW WAS THAT? THERE WASN'T ANY RACHEL AND NOAH. I KNOW. I'M SORRY. I DIDN'T GET THEM INTO THERE. DON'T WORRY THERE WILL BE SOME IN THE NEXT CHAPTER MORE THAN LIKELY. ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THIS CHAPTER I REALIZED THAT THERE MIGHT ONLY BE LIKE TWO MORE CHAPTERS LEFT IN THIS STORY. CAN YOU GUESS WHO IS AT THE FRONT DOOR? PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. I'LL DO MY BEST TO UPDATE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. THANKS AGAIN FOR TUNING BACK IN. - KRISTINE. **


	6. CASABLANCA

-1**AUTHOR'S NOTE: LITERALLY ONE PERSON GUESSED THE RIGHT ANSWER. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TUNING IN. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. YOUR RESPONSE TO LAST CHAPTER WAS OVERWHELMING TO SAY THE LEAST. I REALLY APPRECITED IT. YOU GUYS ROCK! - KRISTINE. **

**RATING: PG-13 (A CERTAIN CHARACTER IN THIS CHAPTER HAS A VERY FOUL MOUTH AND I'M SURE YOU CAN'T GUESS WHICH ONE) **

**DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN ANY OF THE GLEE CHARACTERS BUT I DO OWN SETH AND ABBY AND IN THE SCHEME THINGS THEY AREN'T TERRIBLE CHARACTERS TO OWN. **

**CHAPTER SIX: CASABLANCA**

- - -

He threw open the front door and found Quinn Fabray standing awkwardly on his front porch in her cheerleading uniform. For the second time that day he wasn't exactly sure how someone had tracked down where he lived. "Uh hey."

"Hey."

He scratched the back of his neck not sure what to say next. He really wasn't in the mood for some drawn out conversation which is what he was pretty sure she was looking for right now. "So what's up?"

"We had homework in history today and I told Ms. Walker I'd drop it off by your house." Quinn explained. She held up the paper as if to prove that she wasn't lying.

He reached out and grabbed the paper from her. "Okay well thanks."

"Do you mind if we uh talk for a minute. Could I uh come in?" Quinn mumbled.

Noah groaned inwardly, but nonetheless said, "Yeah come in."

"Where was this?" Quinn asked as she scanned the pictures in Puck's living room. She was staring at a picture of Puck and a girl she vaguely thought she recognized. He was wearing a dark suit and she was wearing a beautiful pink dress. It was obviously a candid shot by the way they were laughing. She'd never seen Puck so happy before.

Noah walked up behind her and smiled when he saw which picture she was referring to. "A friend's bar mitzvah."

"I always forget your Jewish," Quinn admitted. "You looked really happy there."

Noah started to feel uncomfortable by the way she was talking. On her sweetest day Quinn could only be described as being kind of mean. For the most part she was a bitch. So this pathetically awkward Quinn that was sitting in his living room was just a little too weird for him.

"What's up Quinn?"

"Finn broke up with me," she told him quietly.

"I know."

Quinn's head snapped up. "Did you know he was going to dump me?"

"No," Noah assured her. "I had no idea it was coming."

"Oh."

"I read about it on MySpace," he lied. There was no way he could tell her how he really found out about Finn's decision.

Quinn sighed. "He dumped me for _man hands._"

Noah didn't say anything for a moment. Instead he just sat there and waited to see if she was going to say something else.

"Can you believe it?" She wailed.

"Yes." He answered automatically. He hadn't even realized the words actually left his mouth until he saw her head snap up for the second time in the span of five minutes. He cringed knowing the ran that was about to come his way.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Quinn demanded. She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "I came here thinking you were going to think he was just as crazy as I do. But **you**, you of **all** people, the person who goes **out of his way **to make her life a living hell. **You** get why he would dump **me** for **her**." She shook her head in disbelief before replying. "**WHAT. THE. FUCK.**"

He wasn't sure what to say, "Q…"

"Don't Q me," she couldn't believe this. She just couldn't believe this. "What is it? Hmm? What is it about her that is just so fucking amazing?"

Noah didn't flinch. He wasn't about to go down this path with her.

"Don't just sit there. Tell me Puck. Tell me why Rachel Berry is fan-fucking-tastic. I'm not going to move from this spot until you do."

"She's just nice okay."

"Nice? I'm nice."

Noah did his best to resist the urge to scoff. The girl was delusional. "Rachel is nice to everyone. She's secure enough in who she is to be a musical loving freak. There isn't two sides to her. She is who she is. There's something attractive about that."

"Says the guy whose made it his mission in life to bring her down."

"Is Finn really worth all of this?" He asked quietly.

Noah couldn't understand how she thought someone who treat her like Finn did would be worth all of this rage.

Quinn shifted uneasily. "It's embarrassing," she admitted after a few minutes. "The quarterback is supposed to be with the head cheerleader especially when the head cheerleader is as hot as me."

"At least he didn't dump you to date Jacob Ben-Israel or even worse Sue Sylvester." Noah pointed out. He was happy to see that she was finally calming down.

"God would that be gross," Quinn's nose wrinkled in disgust at the mere thought of Finn and Coach Sylvester. The woman was revolting enough as it was on her own. "So you like her huh?"

"What?"

"You like Rachel." Quinn stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world even though she honestly couldn't wrap her head around it.

Noah knew there was no way he could deny his feelings for Rachel. He knew Quinn would see through it. Girls were unusually good at things like that.

"Your silence is all the answer I need." Quinn couldn't believe her luck.

She'd shown up here thinking that Puck would be on her side when she told him about the unwritten social rule Finn had broken. _Thou shall not date the loser gleek girl when you are decently close to convincing your head cheerleader girlfriend to give you a hand job._ She'd thought her and Puck would make out for a bit because a girl would have to blind to not notice just how hot Noah Puckerman was. Maybe the making out would lead to something more and hopefully the news tomorrow at school would be that Puck and Quinn were talking instead of Finn dumped Quinn and asked Rachel out. Instead it was not only is Puck not on her side but he wants to get with Rachel just as bad as Finn did.

"So what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do to make Rachel choose you?"

"She'll pick me. I know she will."

"Not to burst your bubble Puck, but she's been making eyes at Finn since the moment he sang Don't Stop Believin' and while yeah you two definitely have singing chemistry I don't know if that translates to real life."

She didn't want to admit it but she had been amazed and even a bit dazzled by Rachel and Puck's duet.

Noah stood up and crossed the room. He stared at the picture Quinn had asked about earlier. He had been happy in that picture. It was Seth's bar mitzvah. Rachel's Jewish dad had taken the picture while Rachel and Noah were in the middle of teasing Seth about something. She'd been so excited about that dress. Her and Abby had driven all the way to Cincinnati to find it. He was fairly sure she still had it sitting in her closet at home.

"Earth to Puck." Quinn walked up beside him and once again found herself looking at the picture. "She looks familiar."

"She should," Noah whispered. He was tired of lying. He was tired of hiding. "That's Rachel."

Quinn squinted and realized that sure enough that girl in the picture was Rachel Berry. She seemed a bit more normal in the picture. Maybe it was because she wasn't wearing a mini skirt and knee high socks. "Why do you have a picture of you and Rachel Berry laughing in your living room?"

"She's my best friend. She's always been my best friend."

It took Noah close to a half an hour to explain his secret to her. When he was finally done talking he actually felt better. It was like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Carrying around a secret as big as this one was had been like a burden.

"So you see she's going to pick me. I just know it."

"So you're just going to lay it all out there."

"Yep."

"Wow."

"And honestly Q you're too good for Finn. I mean you're a bitch, but you don't deserve to be treated that way." Noah felt like a complete fag. If Seth had been sitting here he would have once again called him a pussy.

"You know Puck for a pretty big asshole you aren't half bad." Quinn replied. She stood up and gathered her things. "Good luck with Rachel."

"Thanks," he grinned and opened the front door for her. "And if you're going to take him back at least make him work for it."

"Don't worry he will." Quinn assured him. _If he thought he had blue balls before he had another thing coming. _

- - -

"So how did your conversation with Noah go?" Abby asked as she painted her nails.

"Hopefully pretty well," Seth shrugged. "He seemed like he was going to man up and tell her how he felt when I left."

"What would they do without us?"

"Who knows? Be totally oblivious."

Abby picked up her phone to make sure that she somehow hadn't missed a call from Rachel. She groaned when she realized she hadn't. "Well he better act soon because I can't handle being on edge about this. We've done everything but handcuff them together which I am willing to do if they can't figure this out."

"You are going to be such a good Jewish meddling mother," Seth replied before giving her noisy kiss on the cheek.

- - -

"Daddy I said I'm fine." Rachel replied without bothering to look up from her French homework. He'd been able to tell that something was off with her when she came home from visiting with Hannah, but the last thing she felt like doing was telling her father that she was in love with Noah Puckerman, but he was too much of a jackass to admit to loving her back. "Seriously I'm just tired."

Noah pushed the door closed. "It's me."

Rachel whirled around in her chair. He certainly didn't look sick when means he did just skip school. "Where were you today? We had glee. You were supposed to present your song ideas."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't look like you're very committed when you skip glee when we have assignments due."

"Once again I'm sorry."

"Look Noah…"

"Rachel will you just stop busting my balls for a minute."

"I'm sorry Noah I…"

"Rachel please just stop talking for one minute and let me explain why I skipped school today and then if you still feel like busting my balls I'll allow it."

She nodded and sat down on her bed. She gestured for him to continue with whatever he was going to say.

Now that he was actually standing here in her room he thought his heart was going to explode. This was all far easier in theory. He took a deep breath and then he started talking because he knew if he didn't say anything then any moment she was going to start ranting again. "Do you remember the first time we watched Casablanca?"

"Of course it is my favorite movie after all."

They were eight years old and were at Hannah's for the evening. Their parents had gone on a double date to a charity auction in town. Hannah didn't own any new releases and said that she was happy she didn't because new releases were overrated. She said all of the best movies ever made were made before either of them had ever been born. Rachel often agreed with that sentiment. Noah not so much.

"What I always remember is how at the end I was dismayed at Rick for telling her to get on that plane. I was furious. But you, you got it. You said that was the most romantic thing you ever saw. You said that was real love, pushing someone away even though you wanted nothing more than keeping them with you."

"Noah I'm not sure…"

"Just listen Rachel I skipped school today because I couldn't stand the thought of seeing you with Finn. I mean even now just imaging it makes me sick to my stomach. I didn't say anything last night because I was trying to be noble like Rick. I thought you wanted to be with Finn so I wasn't going to stand in the way of that." He stared at the wall the entire time he told her. He couldn't make eye contact with her. He wouldn't. Not yet.

She stared at him for a second. She wasn't exactly sure what to say. She wished he would say one of his usual dickish statements like _hurry, write it down, Rachel Berry managed to stay quiet for a whole five minutes without someone having to use torture_. Instead he just kept staring at the wall.

Finally he looked at her because he knew she wasn't going to say anything which was so rare because Rachel rarely stopped talking. He couldn't believe that the one time he really wanted her chattering to break the silence she decided to be a fucking mute. "So what I guess I'm saying is I want you to choose me."

"It's always been you Noah," Rachel replied before launching herself into his arms as though he was a soldier just returning from war. She kissed him greedily. She'd kissed Noah before. Actually a few times before. But those kisses were nothing like this one. This was one was passionate and desperate. She'd stand by the fact that if Abby hadn't called things probably would have gone far further than they had.

"I told Quinn our secret." Noah revealed later as they waited for a particularly dreary episode of True Life to come back on.

Rachel laughed out loud. That was just ludicrous. "Good one."

"No I'm not kidding. I told Quinn. She knows we're best friends. She actually even knows that I was showing up here to convince you to choose me."

"Well…"

"If it's hard for you to wrap your head around it think about how weird it was to live it. Quinn Fabray is one scary bitch. I swear she dropped the F-bomb like 900 times."

"900?"

"Okay like 15 but still it's weird to hear a Jesus crusader cussing like a sailor." The first f-bomb had been shocking but the rest were just uncomfortable.

"I saw your Bubie today."

"Yeah?"

"She likes me better than you."

"You can have my heart, but you leave me my Bubie."

Rachel snorted. "You Noah Puckerman are adorable."

"I'm a badass."

"You're my adorable badass."

Noah started to challenge that bunnies, puppies, and babies were adorable not badasses, but stopped when the episode of True Life came back on. Plus if he was going to be someone's adorable badass at least it was hers.

- - -

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: GAH! THERE IS LITERALLY ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT. I THINK YOU'LL ENJOY IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT. I THINK IT WAS DECENT. I'M NOT SURE. I'M STEALING A MOVE FROM A CERTAIN CHARACTER ON THE OC FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER. I BET YOU CAN'T GUESS WHO OR WHAT MOVE I'M REFERRING TO. ANYWHO REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED AND ARE DEFINITELY FLATTERING. I'M GOING TO UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I GO BACK TO SCHOOL NEXT MONDAY. - KRISTINE. **


	7. SECOND ONLY TO

-1**AUTHOR'S NOTE: LAST CHAPTER. FROWN. **

**RATING: PG**

**DISCLAIMER. HA!**

**CHAPTER SEVEN: SECOND ONLY TO AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN**

- - -

Noah didn't like the fact that even though they were officially together Rachel was insisting that they still pretend that they still couldn't stand each other. First off it meant that he couldn't kiss her whenever he felt like. She couldn't flash him that secret smile he always loved. And Finn was still trying to convince Rachel that cancelling their date was a bad idea even though Noah knew full well that Finn and Quinn had made out like three nights ago in Quinn's hot tub.

He decided that the only way to convince her that he cared more about her than his popularity was to prove it to her. With Seth, Abby, and surprisingly enough even Quinn's help he'd come up with a fool proof way to get her to see that what they had was too important to him to hide.

He nervously fiddled with his guitar as he waited for everyone including her to arrive. He knew that when Mr. Schue walked in he was going to ask if anyone had anything they would care to share with the rest of the glee club and that would be his chance. He stared at the clock on the wall and willed the seconds to pass by faster.

- - -

Rachel could tell the moment she walked into the choir room that something was up with Noah. He seemed almost jumpy. She took her usual seat and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She wondered what was going on with him today. She groaned when she saw Finn heading straight towards her. She was really getting tired of him trying to convince her to reschedule the date that she had cancelled the night that Noah asked her to pick him as if there was really another option.

She did her best not to frown when she saw Quinn plop down in the seat beside Noah and whisper something in his ear. It wasn't like Quinn would do anything, right? I mean she knew that they were together. The very next morning Quinn had cornered her and told her that not only did she know everything, but that she was willing to keep it a secret because even if she desperately wanted to hate Rachel, she couldn't. And then after a long and seemingly painful pause she admitted that she was totally happy for the new couple.

So she wasn't such a trollop that she would flirt with Noah in front of Rachel and Noah wasn't such a complete jerk that he would actually flirt back.

Right?

- - -

"Does anybody have anything they've been working on and would like to show the rest of us?" Mr. Schue asked after setting down his stuff on top of the piano. He wasn't holding his breath. No one but Rachel and occasionally Kurt really seemed to come up with anything they felt like showcasing for the rest of the club .

Noah took a deep breath because even if he didn't want to admit it he was totally nervous to do this. Once again it was one thing to sing with Rachel. It was another thing to sing for Rachel. He felt like such a puss when he mumbled, "Quinn and I uh do."

Mr. Schue glanced at Quinn and Puck in surprise. He grinned. "Well by all means come on up."

Quinn grabbed the sheet music that they had printed out and handed it to various members of the band that accompanied the club. She took her place next to Noah and winked at him.

Noah could tell by the way Rachel was eyeing him that she was less than pleased to see him standing up there with Quinn. He tried to tell her to simmer the fuck down with his eyes, but knew that she was so dismayed by the scene in front of her that she wouldn't be able to read his expression. He glanced back at the band and motioned that they could go ahead and start. He cleared his throat and took another deep breath before singing.

_Baby_

_Its been a long day, baby._

_Things ain't going my way_

_You know I need you here_

_Here by my side_

_All of the time_

He made a point to stare at her the entire time he sang.

_And Baby, the way you move me its crazy._

_It's like, you see right through me, you make it easier,_

_You please me and you don't even have to try._

He felt himself smile when she realized that while Quinn might have been singing back up, she was the one he was singing to.

_Oh because,_

_You are the best thing_

_You are the best thing_

_You are the best thing_

_Ever happened to me_

Quinn watched as the rest of the glee club kept looking back between Puck and Rachel as if they were trying to wrap their heads around what they were witnessing.

_Baby,_

_We've come a long way, baby._

_You know, I hope and I pray that you believe me_

_When I say this love will never fade away_

_Oh because_

_You are the best thing_

_You are the best thing_

_You are the best thing_

_Ever happened to me_

_Now both of us have known love before,_

_To come on up promising, like the spring, just walk on out the door._

_Our hearts are kind and are hearts are strong._

_well, let me tell you what exactly is on my mind._

Noah knew from the way that Rachel was looking at him that Abby had been right. A girl wanted nothing more than for a guy to stand up in front of a bunch of people and admit that he was fucking crazy about her. She was quick to point out that it had worked for Seth Cohen and the chips were way more stacked against him than they were Noah.

_You are the best thing_

_You are the best thing_

_You are the best thing_

Rachel was almost positive that her heart was literally going to burst. Noah had whisper-sang the last part of the song which he knew absolutely drove her crazy. There was something so sexy about how soft and rugged his voice sounded when he did that.

Mr. Schue as well as the rest of the glee club watched in amazement as Noah crossed the room and placed a sweet and gentle peck on Rachel's cheek. He could tell by the way she responded that she desperately wanted him to give her a little more than just a peck. And because he wasn't an absolute saint or anything he smirked like the sexy fool he was.

"Well that was awesome guys," Mr. Schue said in an attempt to get the club to stop staring at Rachel and Puck. The only person who didn't seem the least bit fazed was Quinn Fabray. "Wasn't that awesome guys?" He raised his voice to snap everyone out of their trance.

- - -

The moment that the glee club was over everyone seemed to pounce on Rachel, Puck, and Quinn except for Finn of course because all he was doing was scowling. It wasn't long after because it was obvious that there was no way Mr. Schue could keep the club from staring at Rachel and Puck as though they were some sort of science experiment.

"Are you two together now?" Mercedes boomed.

Rachel glanced at Noah and felt herself melt a little when she saw him nod that yes they were in fact a couple now.

"Well," Kurt said with his hands on his hips. "I just don't know what to make of this."

"There's nothing to make of it Hummel. Rachel here is my girlfriend. End of story." Noah wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulder to punctuate his point.

Santana turned on Quinn. "You don't look shocked."

"What?" Quinn asked.

"She said you don't look shocked. Which you totally don't Q. What's up with that?" Brittany didn't get Quinn's reaction. She should have been outraged. She should have been saying things like _"Who the fuck does man-hands think she it?" _and _"Have all the boys at this fucking school gone crazy or something?"_ She should not have been singing back up for Puck when he was obviously singing to Rachel Berry.

"I don't know I guess I just saw that they had a lot of chemistry when they sang that duet together. I asked Puck about it and he admitted that he liked her." Quinn lied. They had rehearsed this lie many times so that when the time came she didn't even for a moment falter. Brittany may have been dense when it came to a lot of things but she was eerily skilled at seeing through a lie.

"I thought you were in love with Finn," Mercedes pointed out because she had never been one to keep a thought or opinion to herself.

Rachel tried not to openly blanch. It wasn't fair of her to blanch because she had at one point been smitten with the tall quarterback. Still had was the keyword. "I don't feel we deserve to undergo the Spanish inquisition. Our business is our business. Noah's my boyfriend and you should understand and accept that."

Noah smirked at the group before grabbing his guitar case and guiding Rachel out of the classroom. He shot Quinn an appreciative smile before leaving.

"Am I the only one who noticed that she called him Noah?" Artie asked the group of people surrounding him.

"This is so Twilight Zone worthy," Tina remarked.

Matt shrugged. "I don't know Berry is hot."

"Totally," Mike agreed.

- - -

Emma smiled when she glanced up from her computer and saw Will walking into her office. She could tell the moment she looked at his face that something interesting had happened at glee club that day. "Hi."

"Hey," Will said as he sat down in the chair across from her desk just like he found himself doing almost everyday.

"Something bugging you?"

"What makes you say that?"

Emma shot him a look that said I am a counselor after all.

"Puck performed that Ray LaMontagne song "You Are the Best Thing" along with Quinn in glee today."

Emma's brow furrowed. She didn't understand what was so puzzling about that. They'd already realized that Puck was an accomplished singer.

"He was singing to Rachel," Will added when he saw that she wasn't understanding his beguilement. "Professing if you will."

Emma grinned. She had been pulling for the couple. She hated that Rachel didn't think she was worth Puck giving up his popularity for.

"Did you just grin?"

"What?" Emma feigned innocence.

"You just grinned." Will replied in shock.

"I just think it sounded sweet."

"No," Will shook his head, "That wasn't the kind of grin you were sporting. You were sporting the good for him grin. You knew about them and didn't tell me." He didn't phrase it as a question but instead stated it.

"Maybe I did," Emma admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me? I was completely blindsided in there."

"They asked me not to," she explained. "It wasn't my secret to share."

"We had to cut glee short because they couldn't stop staring at them. You would have thought they had just witnessed an alien birth or something. It was completely surreal."

Emma could imagine. She remembered how surprised she was when she saw them embracing in the hallway.

"It was sweet though," Will conceded a few moments later. He'd once again found himself surprised by Puck's talent despite the fact that the boy had yet to let him down. "You would have enjoyed it."

"You should add it to the showcase."

"This is why you're an awesome guidance counselor," Will teased with a grin.

- - -

"Hey!" Finn called. "Wait up!"

Noah and Rachel turned around and frowned at the sound of Finn who was practically chasing them down the hallway.

"What is this?" He asked, gesturing between the two of them.

Noah scoffed. "Seriously Finn?"

"Noah," Rachel said softly. She laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to call him. She could feel him tense.

"I don't get it Rachel." Finn replied softly. "I thought you liked me. I thought we had something."

"Finn," Rachel groaned. "You're a nice guy but stick with Quinn. You've got the whole adorable rhyming thing in your favor. You're the quarterback. She's the head cheerleader. Why mess with a proven combination?"

"I don't want Quinn. I want you."

Noah wanted to throttle Finn.

"And I want Noah." Rachel reminded him. "Now if you don't mind we've got somewhere we've got to be."

- - -

Hannah beamed when Noah and Rachel walked into her bedroom holding hands. She threw her hands up in the air and cheered. "Finally!"

"Tell us how you really feel Bubie," Noah joked as he kissed her softly on the cheek.

"You two have made me happier than you could ever imagine," Hannah admitted softly. "This is almost as romantic as An Officer and a Gentleman."

"You know they hated each other in real life, right?" Noah laughed softly.

"Oy vey Noah you're almost as bad as your grandfather," he'd always loved to point out things during movies that totally took away from the magic. It had driven Hannah mad. Now she occasionally found herself doing it.

"I'm pretty sure I'm okay with being second to An Officer and a Gentleman. When he shows up to the factory and carries her out of there," Rachel paused because she started to choke up just like she always did when she talked about that movie as well as during Breakfast at Tiffany's. "Oy."

"Exactly," Hannah agreed. "See I knew my Noah needed himself a smart Jewish girl. I won't always be here to talk sense into him."

Noah wanted to point out that he had declared his love for her via song, but he was pretty sure his Bubie would have asked enough questions to find out how vicious he'd been to Rachel at times. He definitely wasn't asking for the ass-whooping that would lead to. Plus he figured if second was good enough for Rachel then it should be good enough for him. He glanced at her and couldn't help but agree that there was nobody better for him than a smart Jewish girl like Rachel.

"I knew this was going to happen," Hannah said with a confident smile. "You two were always more than just friends."

- - -

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I HOPE YOU LIKED THAT. HAHA. I WROTE THAT UNUSUALLY FAST. IT NORMALLY TAKES ME A COUPLE OF HOURS TO WRITE A CHAPTER, BUT THIS ONE REALLY FLOWED FROMY FINGERS. I GAVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTING. NEVER HEARD THE SONG USED IN THIS CHAPTER? LOOK INTO IT. I THINKN YOU'LL AGREE IT'S FANTASTIC. IT IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS EVER. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS. I REALLY ENJOYED THIS FIC. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE END. IF I HAVE ONE REGRET IT'S THAT I DIDN'T SQUEEZE IN A BIT MORE SETH AND ABBY. GAH! I LOVED THEM. ANYWAY. R&R PLEASE. - KRISTINE. **


End file.
